Wednesday letters to the editor

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Righteous warriors

To the editor:

This letter is in response to one on 07/13/07 by William Gourd.

I am not sure how to break this news to Mr. Gourd, so I will just come out and say it: We are at war. In his letter, Gourd asked with whom. Let's start with the following: Radical Islam backed with the full faith and credit (checkbooks) of far too many practicing Muslims; individual suicide bombers; aI-Qaida, whose sworn purpose is to destroy our way of life. And, yes, Osama bin Laden.

Gourd wrote, "The United States was attacked in September 2001, did we pursue the people who trained and sponsored the attackers? No." No? We went after those who were responsible hard. The attackers, far from a ragtag group of terrorists, racked up these impressive accomplishments - 3,000 left dead on 9/11; two embassies bombed; the most advanced and sophisticated warship in history, USS Cole, was knocked out of commission. They were not ragtag then but they have been feeling little ragtag lately.

After sweeping through Afghanistan, we now are fighting our sworn enemies in Iraq. I don't even know where to begin with Gourd's poor, pitiful, innocent Iraq/Saddam sob story. Thank God for George W. Bush and the men and women in the armed forces with the courage to say, and fight for, what is right and against what is wrong! Wrong is killing us for our way of life. Wrong is killing us for not converting to Islam. Right is fighting for the America way of life. Right is believing in the greatest nation in history, a nation that is willing to fight for the freedom of all counties.

Recall that after WWI and WWII we kept no territories from the conquered. "Criminal invaders?" No, Mr. Gourd had it backward. We are the "righteous warriors." He can say we are not at war, that no one is seeking to kill us or our children but, if I may borrow a quote from the campaign of another great president, "Just because you say the bear is not in the woods, doesn't mean it's not there."

DENNIS P. BUTLER

Midland

$10 is worth it

To the editor:

"With 31,769 households in Midland County as of the 2000 census, the county pays $59.81 per household this year, using the $1.9 million figure. MMR offers a less expensive $49-a-year 'subscription' that pays out-of-pocket ambulance costs a household incurs during a year." - MDN story written by Cheryl Wade, published on 7/14/07.

Is saving about $10 worth this to our families?

As a former Midland resident now residing in Bay City, I ask this because my family, my friends, they live in Midland, and I work in Midland. When the need arises for ambulance service, I want to be sure of a few things. I want to know that each ambulance run will have two people on board, two paramedics, trained approximately 10 times longer than a basic EMT. I want to know that if my child is in need of an ambulance on a road in Coleman, or anywhere else, that an ambulance will be sent from Midland County, and have a response time to save her life. I want to know that when my parents and grandparents are in need of emergency services, that one call to 911 will send two highly trained paramedics to their side within minutes, to take them to the hospital with which they are affiliated. I want to know that an extensive background check has been performed on the ambulance staff to make sure my loved ones are safe when being transported to any hospital.

I think it's worth the extra costs to have paramedics versus EMTs with just the basic training. Quality of service is important to many. Midland residents chose this town for a reason. Former Midland Public Schools service workers took a cut in the name of the almighty dollar, let's not do this with our health as well.

Midland County residents need to make themselves aware that certain commissioners, in this case Bill Waterman and Jim Leigeb, in my opinion are not out to seek the best care, best response time or the best bang for your buck.

I want to know that when I am working at the fair, when I am attending an outdoor event or when one of my children is engaged in a sporting event in Midland County, that a "Cadillac" ambulance service is there, on site with two people ready to serve. And yes, I would pay that $10 difference.

It's been written by some to not take this as a personal issue; this is highly personal. It should be highly personal, it's life, if not yours then a family member's or loved one's.

Above all, everyone needs to remember at election time these radical ideas and the persons they came from and make sure to secure your future by voting out Mr. Waterman and Mr. Leigeb from the decision-making process.

SHELLEY (TRADER) SAYEN

Bay City

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